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Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Guest Author, Julie Lynn Hayes!

Hey there, everyone! I'm thrilled to play host to Julie Lynn Hayes. She's part of the Wednesday Briefs flash fiction group, a brilliant author of many books and short stories, a great editor, and well... an all-around a goddess. Today, Julie's here talking about her latest release, DIRTY LITTLE LIES.

FAMILY, HOLIDAYS, AND DIRTY LITTLE LIES

Holidays are a time for families to come together in many places around the world. But the definition of family has changed in this modern world we live in, and the nuclear family structure isn’t what it used to be. With people getting divorced and remarried, having children from the first and then the second family, genealogical trees have had to adapt, and they aren’t as linear any more. Add to that shifting family dynamics, and the increasing awareness that many so-called happy families are actually quite dysfunctional…. Well, holidays can be as much stressful as joyful.

Poet Robert Frost once said, “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” Sadly, that isn’t always true, and neither is the reverse, as many GLBT young people have discovered when their own parents have disowned them and thrown them out of the family home. Fear of being outed and discarded like yesterday’s trash leads many young people to hide their natural sexual orientation, and sometimes denying who they really are.

In Dirty Little Lies, Levi Thornton is gay and closeted. His situation is exacerbated by the fact that his father is well-known televangelist, Marshall Thornton. To come out of the closet would mean giving up the lifestyle to which Levi has become accustomed. Not to mention, risking his father’s censure.

But sometimes the desire for revenge overrides the need to stay closeted. This Christmas is going to be one Marshall Thornton isn’t likely to forget anytime soon.

Thanks for having me on your blog, Kazy!

BLURB

Levi Thornton is the closeted gay son of homophobic televangelist Marshall Thornton. So what’s the perfect gift for the father who never cared? Levi’s going to find a yummy young man on Christmas Eve, fuck him all night long and six ways to Sunday. And then he’s going to out himself on live national TV on Christmas Day in front of his father and God and everyone else.

The problem is he’s having no luck at finding that special someone to share this moment with. Just when he thinks his quest is hopeless, in breezes Darjeeling Crane, and it’s off to the family hideaway for a night of fun. This will be a Christmas to remember, if Levi has anything to say about it.

EXCERPT

Levi rose, loosened his red houndstooth tie, plastered a beatific smile on his handsome face, and strode purposefully toward the blond, never taking his eyes from him. He dropped onto the empty stool beside him, swinging it to face him, their knees touching.

“Merry Christmas,” the blond greeted him.

“It will be,” Levi replied. “It certainly will be.” At that moment the counter girl laid down a menu, a glass of water, and tableware. “Take your time, honey,” she said, walking away before he could comment.

The stranger flipped the menu open. “Anything you recommend?”

Levi blindly jabbed a finger at the open page. “Yeah. Me,” he brazenly replied. “I can give you something a whole lot better than anything you’ll find here. And then I’ll feed you, too.”

“That’s quite an offer, Mr…?” He looked at Levi, the question hanging from his pretty lips.

“You can call me Levi. What should I call you, pretty thing?”

“I like that, but you can call me Darjeeling.”

Auburn eyebrows arched in disbelief. “Like the tea?”

“Exactly.”

Levi leaned in, his lips brushing against the other man’s ear, his breath warm against his flesh. “I have a place where you and I can go, if you’re interested. Someplace a whole lot better than this ptomaine palace. And a hell of a lot more private. What do you say?” He ran his tongue along the outer shell of Darjeeling’s ear, felt his shiver.

“What do I say?” He laid his hand on Levi’s arm, turned his head just enough that their lips were mere micro-centimeters apart. “I say how soon can we leave?”

ABOUT JULIE LYNN HAYES
Julie Lynn Hayes first began publishing short stories and poetry in the 1990’s, when it was a different ballgame altogether, and ebooks hadn’t been dreamed of yet. That changed in 2010 with the acceptance of her first romance novel. She’s come a long way since that first book appeared, and is finding the journey a very educational one.

She lives in St. Louis with her daughter Sarah and her cat Ramesses. She often writes of two men finding true love and happiness in one another’s arms, and is a great believer in the happily ever after. She likes to write in different genres, to stretch herself in order to see what is possible. Her great challenge is to be told something can’t be done; she feels compelled to do it.

When she isn’t writing, she enjoys crafts, such as crocheting and cross stich, needlepoint and knitting, and she loves to cook, spending time watching the Food Network. Her favorite chef is Geoffrey Zakarian. Her family thinks she’s a bit off, but she doesn’t mind. Marching to the beat of one’s own drummer is a good thing, after all.